Annual Report
January 2003
Is
your heart in serving the needy? Do you
want to connect with others and grow in faith while serving God? As you read what Bethel has done in 2002,
keep in mind that we have room for you.
The
Children’s Shelter Ministry
continues to meet the first Sunday of each month at the shelter to provide a
worship service for all that wish to attend.
The ministry is run under the Correctional Institute Chaplaincy program,
and the team works closely with Rev. Sharon Brandon. At the last service, 24 children, mostly teenagers, and 5
counselors attended. There are
currently 4 Bethel members who serve as the team to the shelter. With such large numbers of children in
attendance, Carol Palmer needs additional volunteers to add to the team. Please call Carol for more information.
Crop Walk will be held this year on
Sunday April 13th, which is Palm Sunday. The start time is at 1:30 p.m., a half-hour later to allow
walkers time to attend traditionally longer services that day. Last year, Bethel members raised just over
$800.00, which was matched by AAL for a total of $1600.00. Our congregation is once again one of the
top contributors to Crop Walk in Santa Clara County.
The
Global Missions Committee held two events
in 2002. In January, Beth and Eric
Hanson were invited to speak about their upcoming trip to teach at the Maasai
School in Tanzania. In June, Pastor
Rick Sherrill talked about his travels to Zimbabwe, and the committee gave an
update on the Hansons. The January
Designated Offering went to the Maasai School in Tanzania.
Each
week, Bill and Marion Francis deliver donations of food (canned goods) to the Lord’s Pantry at Gloria Dei Lutheran
Church in San Jose. While Bethel’s
donations of Christmas gifts to the Lord’s Pantry clients were down this
December, donations of food stayed level with our previous year of giving. We can thank those who attend Bethel Church
and Bethel School, and especially the AM/PM Club for their food donation drives
held last year. Bethel’s collection
barrel is located in the narthex, and donations are welcome anytime.
Mission to Mexico isn’t just about building
houses; it’s a way of building relationships between two communities, two
cultures, two nations. It’s also about
hard work. During the April youth trip,
20 volunteers not only set roof beams but also poured concrete floors. The adult trip numbered just 13 in October,
but they were able to pour a concrete floor for an additional room for a most
grateful family. If you’d like to
experience “esperanza” (hope) in Mexico this year, please contact Tom Hoegel
Jr. for more information.
Twice
a month, Carol Hooper and the rest of the Pet
Assisted Therapy team visit residents at Sunny View Lutheran Home with
their “best friends”. The group now
visits the assisted living unit, the nursing unit and the Alzheimer’s
unit. They generally make contact with
30 to 40 residents each visit. Since
the team is currently down to 5 volunteers, Carol would like to encourage
anyone who is interested in joining to contact her. You can also log on to www.furryfriends.org for more information.
Bethel
held a Neighborhood Carnival in
June, as an outreach to those who live in our immediate community. With more than 70 volunteers, we were able
to provide two Astro Jumps, face painting, balloon animals, crafts, games,
food, and entertainment by Common Ground.
We had a lighter attendance than hoped for, but the folks who did come
had a wonderful time, and were contacted after the event. Many Bethel members, visitors, and Bethel
School families enjoyed the carnival, also.
The
San Jose Family Shelter needed
volunteers to serve breakfast the third Saturday of each month, so Bethel
accepted the challenge and “rose” (very early) to the occasion, managing to
serve hot breakfasts each of the 12 months of 2002 at 8 a.m. We also served dinner twice, in June and in
October. Many members of the
congregation have requested that we add more SJFS dinners to this year’s
Mission Outreach calendar. In response,
we will serve breakfast every other month this year, beginning in February, and
will add a number of dinners as well.
Stay tuned for the dates.
That’s
it for our 2002 update. I invite you to
serve with us in any one of the Mission Outreach ministries, and to keep our
ministries in your prayers.
-Lois
Brouillette
Mission
Outreach Ministry chair